Reid Schedules Gun Control Vote, Dems Scramble to Avert Filibuster

Beginning on Wednesday, the Senate will begin holding up-or-down votes on amendments to the Toomey-Manchin gun control bill now making its way through the Senate. According to the Washington Post, the Democrats still lack enough votes in the Senate to pass the widely-reported Toomey-Manchin proposal. Roll Call says the Democrats could be as many as eight votes short of the filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. Joe Biden, meanwhile, says “I think we’re there.” He added, “we will win.”

It is highly likely that the other amendments to the bill will fail quickly. They include the proposal, backed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), to ban so-called “military-style assault weapons” – scary looking guns that have the same specs as typical non-military semiautomatic rifles; limits on ammunition magazine sizes; a Republican proposal to make conceal carry permits transferrable between states; and a variety of other programs.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says he believes the Toomey-Manchin bill will pass. “The American people deserve to stand on these important anti-violence proposals,” he said. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) are trotting around gunshot victim and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly to pressure other Senators. Giffords and Kelly will meet with Vice President Joe Biden to dedicate a room in the Capitol Visitors Center, just in time to propagandize for gun control for the cameras.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to gain votes, Manchin and Toomey are reportedly attempting to carve out exceptions for wavering Senators’ states on their background check regulations.